Between Dragon Ball and Street Fighter, there seems to be a lot of Live Action news going around lately. Courtesy of Warner Bros., we’ll be seeing a couple of Live-Action adaptions of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga series split across two films; the first of the films is set to be released in Summer 2009. Each film is set to cover 3 of the 6 volumes.
This is not the first time Warner Bros. has had to acquire rights for Akira. They previously once had the film rights for Akira, but Executive Vice-President of Warner Bros. Greg Silverman (300, Batman Begins) had to acquire them once more from Japanese publisher Kodansha post bidding which, after going around, reached seven figures.
Set to direct the film will be Ireland’s Ruairi Robinson alongside Gary Whitta (Book of Eli) who will be writing the script. No information as to the cast has been made available.
Update: According to Anime UK News, Leonardo DiCaprio, who not only has signed on as a producer, will also be joining the cast as Kaneda. In addition, as opposed to being set in New-Tokyo, this film will be set in “New Manhattan” (”A metropolis that was rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years earlier”). While we shall express that these reports remain unconfirmed (Anime UK News provides no source), we’ll leave it to those in our comment section to express their reactions to these developments.
The cast of the new Street Fighter live action production, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, is beginning to round out. Just to be clear before I begin, I am referring to the names of individuals by the names of their American ports as that is how they were listed. Therefore, when I say Balrog, I am not referring to the Spaniard.
Anyway, somehow, Kristen Kreuk (Euro Trip, Smallville) has been cast as Chun-Li herself. Not quite sure what they’ll do about those thighs though.
Michael Clark Duncan (Armageddon, Daredevil) will be taking on the role of Balrog. I would find it very interesting to see how that plays out.
Chris Klein (American Pie, Rollerball) will be joining them by taking on the role of Charlie (that’s Nash for all you guys who are about to criticize me for not using their Japanese names).
Rick Yune (The Fast and the Furious) will be playing the role of the only man to survive the Shun-Goku-Satsu (瞬獄殺, literally: Instant Hell Murder, a.k.a. The Raging Demon by many of those across the Pacific), Gen. Accompanying him will be Taboo from The Black Eyed Pea, Edmund Chen, Cheng Pei Pei (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), and Moon Bloodgood (Journeyman).
According to a press release - and a subsequent post by Kotaku, Square-Enix, developer and publisher of the popular Final Fantasy series, is cracking down on outlets who manufacture and/or sell swords inspired by the series.
Square-Enix has filed a federal lawsuit in the in the Central District of California to seek damages against those whom have infringed upon their IP (seems to be alot of that going around lately). Square-Enix has named at least four manufacturers and retailers in its lawsuit.
The actions taken by Square-Enix came after the United States Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol took possession of a crate of said swords which carried the same designs as those seen in the Final Fantasy series. In relation to the crackdown and investigation by Square-Enix in which many resellers ceased operation and many manufacturers gave them the cold shoulder, General Counsel for Square-Enix, Yasuhiko Hasegawa, had the following to say:
While Square Enix appreciates the enthusiasm of its fans, and values its relationship with them, it is also obligated to protect its intellectual property rights or risk weakening or losing the very rights that enable the company to continue to provide its fans with an exciting entertainment experience.
So without any further details made public or any ideas as to official licensing of swords by Square-Enix (stateside, at least, where these infringements were occurring), the lawsuit trudges on. In the meantime, we shall watch in humor as the guy below laboriously swings around his own custom made bastard sword.
It is not only UK anime fans who have a right to rejoice, it would appear that Right Stuf (based in the USA) is currently holding a pretty awesome sale of ADV DVDs. The sale ends February 6th, so you will need to be quick if you want anything before stocks run out.
There are two deals on offer:
- 10 ADV DVDs for $50 (use coupon: ADVsuper10)
- 25 ADV DVDs for $100 (use coupon: ADVsuper25)
(Note: You must buy exactly 10 or 25 sale DVDs if you want the coupons to work, do not mix other items into your order)
Lots of the titles on offer normally retail for between $25-40, and DVDs with artboxes are included in the sale.
It is not quite 100% of the ADV stock that is on offer, but most of it is, and I have made a list of links to the best stuff below:
Between Dragon Ball and Street Fighter, there seems to be a lot of Live Action news going around lately. Courtesy of Warner Bros., we’ll be seeing a couple of Live-Action adaptions of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga series split across two films; the first of the films is set to be released in Summer 2009. Each film is set to cover 3 of the 6 volumes.
According to a press release - and a subsequent post by 
Gantz 
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Chrono Crusade 
Final Fantasy Unlimited